Memories for Forever
by Meiie Wilson
Summary: Antonio gets sick of Lovino's constant name calling and wants to end the relationship. But will he regret it? And how will Lovi feel about it?
1. Chapter 1

"Shut up already, you stupid bastard!" Lovino yelled at his boyfriend loudly.

"Sorry Lovi… But I couldn't help it!" Antonio said sadly, holding up his hands in defeat. He looked towards the ground with a frown on his face.

"Whatever." Lovi rolled his eyes and started to walk away. He stopped after a couple steps and looked back. "What's your problem this time?" he asked, seeing the usually cheerful Spaniard acting glum.

Antonio looked into his boyfriend's eyes. "I think we should take a break…" he said softly.

Lovino turned around to face him. "What do you mean, 'take a break'? We just took a vacation." he asked.

"No, I mean we should take a break from each other. You know, not see each other for a while." Antonio clarified.

Lovino's eyes widened and then he chuckled somewhat nervously. "You're kidding me, right? People who take 'breaks' from relationships never go back." he stated. Antonio looked at him seriously. Lovino frowned. "What brought this on all of a sudden?" he asked softly.

"All of a sudden? It's been like this ever since we met. You treat me like nothing and never show me any love. Maybe if we take a break you'll appreciate me." Antonio said.

"Never show you any love? We had sex just last night!" Lovino said.

"No, Lovi. That's not what I mean. You've never once said you love me. You've never once willingly kissed me. You've never agreed to a cuddle or even a hug. All you ever do is call me names. That hurts more than you realize. You push me around. That makes me feel worthless. You've never loved me even though we've been living together for six years now!" Antonio said, voice rising a little.

Lovino advanced on him. He was about to push him down when Antonio caught his arms. "You stupid-!"

"This is what I mean, Lovi! Don't you see?!" Antonio asked him.

"You don't know what you're saying! I've never loved you? Ha! I think being able to live with you this long had to had some love to be able to stay!" Lovi said, eyes starting to get moister.

"You say that like you've hated being here! I've never made you stay but you act like a prisoner here! You treat me like dirt and I'm SICK OF IT!" Antonio was practically yelling now. "I'm done with being told what to do. I'm through with being pushed around and torn apart like a piece of paper. I'm tired of being called names. I deserve better than that! You've never shown me anything better than that, Lovino!"

Lovi's eyes were starting to fill as he looked away from the man in front of him that still held his arms. "You never use my full name…" he whispered softly.

"Well you always get mad at me for calling you anything else. You get mad at me for trying to show you that I love you. You get mad at every little thing. Did you expect me to live like this forever? I need to be loved. And you won't do it." Antonio paused. A single tear ran down Lovi's cheek. "You have nothing to say, do you? And you know why that is? It's because you aren't willing to try and treat me nice. It's because you don't want to try and love me back. It's because you won't lie to me and tell me you'll work on it. You'd rather it all end. You'd rather move on with your life and all the better things you have to do than lie and stay here. Isn't that right?" Antonio asked.

"You're wrong…" Lovi mumbled.

"How so? I know why you do all this. It's how you protect yourself. You push me around so you never have to feel small. You call me names to make sure I never hurt you. I get that. You're only protecting yourself. But from what? I've been here. I've always been here to protect you. I've always been here to love you, and care for you. To give you everything you need and want. To make you feel good about yourself. But you always shut me out. I gave you my heart and you stomped on it. I gave you my soul and you chewed it up and spit it out. I gave you my entire being and all you could do was protect yourself from doing the same. All because you never loved me enough to take the risk."

Lovino pulled away from Antonio's grasp. He sniffed once and looked the other male in the eyes. He still said nothing.

Antonio's heart broke a little more, seeing that he really wasn't going to say anything. He looked away. "I think you should go…" he said.

Lovino paused a moment longer before turning and walking calmly out of the house.

Antonio turned towards the kitchen counter behind him and put laid both hands on it, leaning down. Two tears dropped from his eyes before he composed himself and went towards the bedroom. The bed was still a mess from the night before. He choked back from crying and opted to sleep on the couch instead. Though as he laid down, he remembered the first night he had slept on it.

**

"Look Lovi! We finally got our own house! Are you ready to build our future together?" Antonio asked the younger male.

Lovino blushed lightly and looked away. "Don't say such embarrassing things!" he said.

Antonio smiled and hugged his boyfriend. He then started to pull him towards the kitchen. The lights were dimmed and candle stood in the middle of the kitchen table where a dinner had been prepared and wine sat in a cooler. "Hope you're hungry." he smiled.

After they had finished eating they talked while they finished off the wine. And soon after they headed to the living room and sat on the couch.

"Do you like it, Lovi? I worked hard to try and make it a place you would like and enjoy living in." Antonio said, an arm around the other's waist.

"It's alright, I guess." Lovi said, face flushed and eyes wandering around the darkened room.

Antonio chuckled and kissed his cheek. Lovino looked at him in surprise. "I love you, Lovi." he confessed and kissed him. Lovi resisted at first but eventually gave in to the heated kiss.

Antonio pulled back and looked into Lovino's eyes. "I hope to be like this with you forever." he said.

Lovi blushed, "You say the corniest things!" he said. Antonio smiled.

They kissed some more, which eventually led to touching, which led to much more.

As they were both nearing their climax Antonio leaned down low and whispered to his lover, "Forever Lovi, you hear me. I'm gonna love you forever."

Lovi looked at him and gave the slightest hint of a smile. He moaned and pulled Antonio down on top of him completely. He mumbled something incoherent and moaned loudly as he climaxed.

Antonio followed soon after and collapsed on top of the other. He kissed Lovi once more and they both fell asleep just like that. Wrapped in each other's arms.


	2. Chapter 2

Lovino walked through the streets of the town that he lived near for so long. Trying not to cry. Trying to turn his hurt into anger. Trying to think of why he didn't respond to anything Antonio had said. He had messed up and he knew it.

'You gave me your heart and I stomped on it? More like gave it back so you would still stay with me. You gave me your soul and I chewed it up and spit it out? More like put it back where it belonged so you would stay you forever. You gave me your entire being? I never wanted what you were I just wanted you.' he thought to himself. He bit his lip and walked a little faster.

Where was he going? He had no clue. He didn't bring anything with him. Just walked out of the house and started walking. He wanted to be held right now. What he really wanted was for Antonio to come running and find him, apologizing and holding him close while he cried into the older male's shoulder. But it was pretty obvious that wasn't going to happen. So Lovino kept walking, no place in mind.

Antonio woke up the next morning to a phone call. He hadn't slept at all that night and ended up trying to sleep in the corner of the living room, the only place that didn't have a strong memory of his former lover. He stood and stretched, grimacing in pain from his muscles protesting every movement.

He slowly walked over and picked up the phone. "Hello?" he said somewhat weakly.

"Hi Antonio!" Feliciano's voice rang over.

"Oh! Hi, Feli. I haven't heard from you in a while. How are you?" Antonio asked. He sat on the ground next to the wall and leaned back. He was tired and honestly wanted to be alone, or at least not be talking to Feliciano right now. But he was a little worried at what might happen if he didn't have some sort of distraction at the moment.

"I've been pretty good. Though this morning I woke up in the middle of the night cause someone came into the house. I thought it was an intruder at first. But then I saw it was brother Lovi so I was alright again. He hasn't come out of the guest room since he got here and won't talk to me. Can you tell me why? I'm worried. I've never seen him like this before." Feliciano explained.

Antonio sighed. He paused a moment and tried to gather to courage to say it. "We broke up." he admitted softly.

Feliciano gasped on the other end. "But why?! You two were so in love! What went wrong?" he asked.

Antonio finally let it go and began to cry as he explained. "He never loved me. Never like how I loved him. All he ever did was push me around and call me names. He never once said he loved me. I just didn't want to go on like that anymore."

Feliciano sighed. "My stupid brother…" he said. Antonio's eyes widened, never thinking he would ever hear those words coming from Feli. "He loves you, Antonio. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be sulking in my guest bedroom, refusing to talk or eat, if he didn't. And he was always telling me about how much affection you gave him, and how much he wished to say those words back. So you're saying he never did?" he asked.

Antonio was dumbstruck. "No… he didn't." he answered.

"I'm gonna try and talk to him. You don't worry, okay? I'll call you later." and with that, Feliciano hung up.

Antonio sat against the wall, holding the phone, thinking about what Feli had told him. He just couldn't wrap his head around it.

***

Antonio woke to soft, firm lips on his. He kept his eyes closed though, he liked the feeling and didn't want to wake up for it to just be a dream. A soft hand brushed some stray hair away from his face. It caressed his cheek and held his hand gently. And in his ear was whispered, "Happy birthday, Antonio. You're my one and only forever, remember? Never forget that, because if you leave me, I… I just don't know. I love you so much..." the voice was lonely and worried. They sounded scared. It sounded like Lovino.

Antonio went back to sleep, believing all he had felt and heard was a dream. He woke up later that morning to Lovi cuddled close to him, reading a book.

"Morning. Finally decide to wake up?" Lovi asked, without looking away from the book in his hands.

Antonio smiled and wrapped his arms around his love. "Good morning, Lovi."

"It's your birthday. What do you wanna do?" Lovino asked, setting the book down and turning in Antonio's arms to look at him. He slowly, tentatively, laid a hand on the other's bare chest.

Antonio pondered the question for a while. "Lay like this all day, have a romantic dinner later, have you declare your undying love to me, and then fall into bed together like newlyweds." he said, looking into the other's eyes.

Lovino blushed and looked away. "Well I hope you don't mind breakfast in bed, dinner, and a movie later cause that's all your getting." he said stubbornly.

Antonio pouted, "Aw! So no birthday sex?" he asked, capturing Lovi in his arms and pinning him down on the bed.

Lovi blushed and looked up at the man holding him down, "I guess if that's what you really want." he said and slipped out from under his lover to start making breakfast.


	3. Chapter 3

'So maybe I wasn't dreaming when I felt that after all? What if Lovi really did love me?' Antonio asked himself. It was now noon and he was dialing the number.

"Hello?" Feliciano's voice rang over.

"Uh, hi Feli. It's me." Antonio said, a knot forming in his stomach.

"Hey Antonio. I tried getting Lovi to talk to me but all he did was hit me and start cursing at you. Then he pushed me out of the room and locked the door, though I could hear him crying on the other side…" he reported. "And he still refuses to eat anything."

"C-could you try giving the phone to him? I'd like to try and talk with him." he asked.

"Of course. One moment." Feli said and was gone.

There was a long pause and Antonio was beginning to think that the phone had been hung up before he heard someone else grab the phone and slam a door. "What do you want? I don't want to buy anything!" Lovino's voice was angry but Antonio could tell that he had been crying.

"I don't want to sell anything to you. I just wanted to talk to you." Antonio said lowly, the knot in his stomach becoming tighter.

There was a pause. "I don't want to talk to you. You lied to me. I refuse to hear another word from your lying mouth." Lovi said firmly.

"I lied to you? Lovi, every word I spoke to you was the complete truth." Antonio said.

"You don't have any right to call me by any of your nicknames right now! And yes, you lied to me! You're just a fucking liar!" he sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

"When? When did I ever lie to you?! Tell me so I can make it right!" Antonio said desperately.

Lovi took a deep breath. "You told me you would love me forever. What about now? You said you would never leave my side. Then why am I over here right now? You said that everyday for the rest of our lives we would be together in everything. Look at us now. You lied to me. You made false promises." he whispered, trying to hold back from crying again.

"Lovino, I'm still here for you, even now. I always will be because you're too important in my life to leave alone now. Or ever. And I still love you. We can be together again if you would just love me back! I still love you, always have, and I always will. That is never going away!" Antonio took a breath. "Lovino, do you love me?" he asked quietly.

There was a pause. "I loved you with all my heart, you stupid idiot." he confessed, barely above a whisper. "And now I never want to hear you voice again." and with that, the line went dead as Antonio held the phone in his hand, heart breaking just a little bit more.

***

On the other side, Lovino had just hung up the phone. He had never wanted to say those words, never wanted to have to enforce them. He opened the locked door of the room he was in and a worried Feliciano stood there.

"I'm going on a walk." he said and handed Feli the phone. He stomped towards the front door and left.

Again, he had no idea where he was going. He just started to wander around and eventually made it to a park, sitting on a bench overlooking a pond. He sighed and tried to clear his mind. Though as he looked towards the pond and all the couples out having a picnic or a romantic walk together, he remembered one of his first dates with Antonio.

***

"What about here, Lovi?" Antonio asked as he stood under a tall tree, picnic basket in hand.

"This will be fine, just stop running around already! I'm hungry!" Lovino said and started to lay out the blanket he had been carrying.

Antonio set down the basket and sat down himself next to Lovino. He opened the basket and brought out a thermos with iced tea and some sandwiches. "Here you are, Lovi. Extra tomatoes right?" Antonio confirmed, handing the mostly tomato sandwich to his lover.

"Of course! Why even ask?" Lovino said and took a large bite out.

Antonio smiled at him and brought out two cups and poured them both their drinks before taking his own sandwich and biting into it as well.

Lovino finished his sandwich and moved to sit closer to Antonio. He laid his head on his shoulder and tentatively held his hand.

Antonio welcomed the touch and kissed his partner's head lightly. "It's a nice day out, isn't it?" he asked.

"Mmhmm." Lovi mumbled in agreement, watching some nearby birds on the ground.

Antonio looked down at Lovi with a warm smile.

Lovino looked up at Antonio and tried to keep his same uncaring face but couldn't keep from letting a small smile grace his lips. "What? Is there tomato on my face still?" he asked.

"No." Antonio answered.

"Then what is it?"

"You just look beautiful in this light." Antonio said. "You look beautiful in every light, mi amor."

Lovino tried but could not contain a smile and a faint blush to his cheeks. He playfully pushed his away and looked elsewhere. "Stop saying stupid things." he said.

"But you do!" Antonio said and wrapped an arm around Lovi's waist.

Lovino looked back to Antonio. "Well you're not so bad yourself." he finally said.

"Oh, Lovi." Antonio pulled him into a short kiss. "I love you." he said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Lovino said, looking away once more.

"Aw! You don't love me back?" Antonio asked.

Lovino stood up. "Well, we should probably head home before it gets too much later."

Antonio sighed in defeat and stood as well, helping Lovi gather everything


	4. Chapter 4

Lovino's eyes stung at remembering that.

'Maybe going for a walk wasn't such a good idea after all…' he thought to himself.

He stood up and began to walk around some more. He went into town but again, it seemed everywhere was filled with some sort of memory of that damn bastard! He almost ran back to Feliciano's house, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

Without thinking he roughly pulled the front door open and was about to stomp in but instead was stopped by the sight of Feliciano in the doorway. Talking to a very distressed looking Antonio.

"But I need to talk-!" Antonio's sentence was cut short when he noticed the door opening. It took him a moment to process that it was indeed Lovino. He looked so different though. He was pale and his eyes were red and puffy. The shine and light in his eyes was gone and were now dull. He didn't look like himself, Antonio thought.

Lovino saw Antonio and was at a loss for what to do. He could run away and try to avoid him, or he could run to the safety of the guest room and hide out until he leaves. Without much thought he pushed Antonio to the wall and ran to the room, slamming it and locking it shut before anyone could stop him.

Not far after that there was pounding on the door. "Lovi! Let me in! Please, Lovi! I wanna talk to you! I'm sorry! I made a mistake! I was wrong! You're the love of my life, Lovi, please let me in!" Antonio almost sobbed from the other side of the door.

Lovino took in a shaky breath before gathering his words. "No! I don't even want to see you, you jerk! You shouldn't even be here!" he yelled before he finally broke down, sobbing.

"Lovi, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I hurt you. And that is the last thing I ever wanted to do. I will never forgive myself for this, Lovi. I want you back, Lovi. I do. I need you. I want you to be happy with me. I want you to trust me. I want to be in there wiping away those tears of yours! I never want to see you sad. Be happy! What would make you happy? Whatever it is, I want to give it to you." Antonio pleaded.

There was a relative silence after that, only Lovino's sobs could be heard. "You can't give it to me anymore, you bastard! You can do nothing! Just go home already!" Lovi finally said through sobs.

"Lovi, I am home whenever I'm with you!" Antonio declared.

"Then go to your house already!"

"Our house! Lovi, it's OUR house! I'm not leaving until I have you with me!"

"You lost your chance! Just go away!" Lovino shouted.

Antonio bit his lip, his heart was breaking faster than he knew it could. "Doesn't everyone deserve a second chance? Can't you let me try one more time to right this terrible wrong I made?"

"No!" Lovino didn't say any more after that. And he didn't reply to any more of Antonio's confessions and declarations of love. He just crawled into the closet and sat in the dark corner, sobbing into his pillow.

Antonio kept talking and shouting and pleading until he could talk no more. Tears ran down his face, losing hope that he would ever get his dear beloved back. Feliciano came in multiple times to check on him and even tried to persuade Lovino himself, he was so worried about the two. He eventually brought dinner but neither ate. Later, he offered the other guest room for Antonio but he declined, so Feli brought a few pillows and a blanket. Antonio slept on the floor in front of Lovino's door that night, hoping desperately he would open the door and let him in.


	5. Chapter 5

Antonio woke the next morning to a very rushed and worried Feliciano rummaging through the cabinet at the end of the hall. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to wake up, but just lied back down after feeling the enormous headache he had.

"Don't worry Antonio, I'm going to get you in there and you're going to get my fratello back." Feli assured as he ran past, going into another room. Antonio could hear the sounds of hurried rummaging. Soon Feli came back out holding something in his hand. "I remembered last night that I had the key to the room. I'm sorry I didn't find it till now, I've been searching for hours!" he then handed Antonio the small silver key.

Antonio stared at it for a moment. He could get in and see his dear Lovino. He stood up and was about to put the key in the hole when he stopped to think about it. What would this do? It could finally convince Lovino to take him back. Or it could just anger him more and give him less than the chance he had already ruined. He then had to think long and hard about what to do. Did he want to risk it?

Feliciano stood anxiously waiting for Antonio to go in. "Well? Aren't you going to do it?" he looked at Antonio's face and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "He wants you back. I know he does. He misses you. He's just scared of getting hurt. You need to go in there and show him that you will protect him. Trust me, I'm his brother!" he encouraged.

"But I don't want him any more angry with me…" Antonio whispered. "I want him to be happy. I want him to smile. I don't care if it's with me as long as he's happy and healthy."

"He will never be happy without you Antonio! And you know you would never settle for that. You wouldn't be happy with that! Go in there! He needs you!" Feliciano stressed.

On the other side of the door, Lovino had woken up and heard the conversation. He paled even more after hearing Feliciano's words. He was right. He always was when it came to him. If he said he would like something, he always did, if he said he would love to do something after trying it, he always did, if he said he would never be happy without Antonio… he wouldn't be. It was a fact. Feliciano always seemed to know what was best for him. Even though Lovino was the older one and usually most sensible of the two, Feliciano knew it from the get-go if it involved him.

And he was right, he did want Antonio back. He wanted to be held in his arms and have Spanish lullabies whispered in his ears even though he preferred Italian. If it was Antonio's voice, he would gladly listen to it. But he didn't want to be hurt. He was terrified of being hurt and left in the dust. That's why he was always so cold to people. He would rather hurt them before they hurt him. He would rather make them look like fools before he did himself. He didn't want to trust someone only to have that trust broken…

Finding the only sensible way to end this hurt, he stood from the bed and made small footsteps, so not to alert the people outside the door that he was awake. In his messed-up mind he still knew to be quiet, but quick.

He grabbed the emergency knife from the dresser just in case what he was planning wouldn't work. He then slowly made his way to the window and opened it, looking down at the unfinished part of the garden that would someday surround the house. It was rocky and the earth was still hard. And it was three stories away. It would at least do some damage. He took a deep breath and opened the window, planning to jump out. Who knows, maybe Antonio will find someone new and be happier than he ever was with him. He certainly deserved it, in Lovino's eyes.

Antonio took a moment to let Feliciano's words sink in. And he was right. Absolutely right. He smiled at Feli before turning to the door once again and sticking in the key. He turned it and as soon as he heard the click, he opened the door and nearly froze. Key word: nearly.

The only thing his mind registered at first was that Lovino was in danger. He was holding a knife, and halfway out the window. He turned to see Antonio's face one last time and then jumped. Without a second thought, Antonio was running to the window and tried to reach Lovino.

Feliciano was in the background screaming for his brother and sobbing, but the only thing Antonio could think about was reaching the one thing most dear to him in the world. He caught something, opening his eyes to see it was Lovino's hand was that was holding the knife.

"Let go, you bastard!" Lovino yelled and thrashed about, trying to make Antonio let go. Antonio never responded, just started to pull him back up. Lovino resisted the entire way. When Antonio finally had almost his upper torso in, Feliciano came to hold him up while Antonio struggled to get the rest of Lovino's resisting body inside the safety of the room.

After he was inside, Feliciano was struggling trying to keep him from running away. Eventually they toppled down with Lovino's back leaning against Feli's chest, Feli still holding onto his brother tightly. Antonio closed the window before dropping down to grab the knife from Lovino's hand.

Lovi pulled it away harshly before aiming it towards his own chest. He was about to plunge it forward but Antonio's hands caught his wrists. "Stop this! Don't hurt yourself, Lovi! Please stop!" Antonio pleaded, trying to grab the knife away.

"No! You're better off without me anyway! Let me go!" Lovi thrashed and tried to kick Antonio but just found his legs pinned down by Antonio's own.

"Not until you drop the knife!" Antonio declared and grabbed the sharpened edge, effectively cutting his hand.

Lovino stopped moving all at once after seeing that first drop of Antonio's blood pour out. He eventually loosed his grip and Antonio pulled his away and threw it somewhere out of reach. Lovino began to move again and was now trying to claw at his neck with his nails. Antonio once again grabbed his wrists and the terrified Feliciano started whispering Lovino's favorite old Italian lullaby into his ear somewhat shakily. He was also slowly rocking back and forth.

Lovino finally calmed down and sunk on his brother's chest. Antonio was still holding his hands and kissed his knuckles, holding them close. "I did this to my dear Lovi. I'm the one that deserves to die. I'm so sorry, Lovi. I'm so so sorry." silent tears started to slowly flow down his cheeks as he watched him fall asleep in his brother's arms.


	6. Chapter 6

Lovino woke in a large bed, surrounded by covers and something a little heavier across his chest. He somehow found the strength to open his eyes and look next to him to see Antonio sleeping soundly, arm draped across him. He was exhausted and felt very lonely. Though seeing Antonio's face made him feel warmer inside. He smiled and cuddled close the Spaniard, thinking it was all a very good dream.

Antonio woke the small movement of Lovino moving in closer to his on the bed. After he had fallen asleep, he helped Feli get him into bed and then wrapped his right hand, the cut wasn't as deep as it had seemed and both he and Feliciano deemed it alright without stitches. After that he had crawled into bed next to Lovino, the tiredness from the night before catching up again, and fell asleep holding him. Though he woke to every little movement or sound. Feliciano coming in to check on them, a bird singing outside, Lovino moving in his sleep. He didn't want Lovi to wake up and try to do anything harsh again.

But this time was different, Lovino was moving like he was awake, and moving closer to him, cuddling into his side. A wave of relief washed over him and he held the other male closer, tighter.

Lovino's eyes fluttered open once more and looked into Antonio's worried green eyes. He was about to settle back down and go back to sleep when he remembered… he needed to get away before he got swept up again. He began to move to get off the bed but Antonio held him closer.

"I finally have you in my arms again, I don't plan on letting you go until you talk to me at the very least." Antonio spoke softly.

Lovino turned to face him, then looked away in shame, remembering what he had tried to do. "What is there to talk about?" he asked, trying to avoid the inevitable subject.

Antonio paused, "Why'd you try to do it, Lovi?"

Lovino didn't answer for a long time. He didn't know how reply to that. What words to use. But he finally said, "Because I would rather the hurt end completely instead of enduring it for the rest of my life. I would rather you actually be happy in a relationship with someone instead of tolerate it."

Antonio pulled Lovino to his chest and hugged him tightly. Lovino resisted at first but finally decided to indulge and gave in to the embrace. "Lovi, if you're hurting, come to me. I will make it better, I promise. I will take away any pain you have. I will take care of you. I want to take care of you for the rest of my life. And I never once tolerated our relationship. I loved every minute of it. Being with you made me happy. Being with you now still makes me happy. But right now I'm more worried about you. Lovi, do you have any idea how much you scared me? I could have had a heart attack right there when I opened that door. My heart almost stopped."

"It was the only thing I could think of to do. I knew you were going to come in. I knew what Feliciano said was right. I was trying to think of a way out. And at that moment that was the only thing I could think of to do." Lovino explained.

Antonio finally pulled back from the hug. "Lovi, I will not ask you to forgive me. I couldn't after all this. But I do want you to know I am very sorry. I am never going to forgive myself for what I put you through. If I hadn't said that in the beginning, then this never would have happened and neither of us would be hurting so much right now." he paused. "And after this I don't even feel I have the right to ask you to take me back."

Lovino had to stop and think of what to say to that. "W-what if I want you back….?" he whispered, almost too soft to hear.

Antonio could have started to cry tears of happiness just then, but he didn't and instead just smiled warmly. "I'm not pressuring you. Think a bit longer. I want to make sure you'd be happy." he released the other male and sat up. "I love you." he whispered and left a lingering kiss to his forehead. He then moved to leave the bed but Lovino held him from it.

"No. I want you back. I want to trust you. I want you protect me. I want you to love me. I want you to smile those stupid annoying smiles you always do to me. I want you with me. I need you. I want to love you," he paused, "and this time I want to do it right." he confessed, looking deep into Antonio's deep emerald green eyes.

Antonio smiled, tears gathering in his eyes. "I believe you, Lovi. I believe in you." Antonio stroked his cheek. "And this time I won't let you go." A single happy tear rolled down his cheek.

Lovino sat up and wiped it away. "Crybaby." He smiled as he said the word, with no venom behind it, only to lightly tease. As Lovi leaned in to kiss Antonio he muttered something along the lines of, "I love you anyways."


End file.
